HTML Stripper Online: Get Clean Text Quickly

Website content is always full of html tags and markup. An HTML Stripper is a must have tool that will clean up the text for you and convert into plain text. This will get rid of unwanted html in your document and gives you clean and pretty text.

Let’s dive into how this tool works and why it’s so useful!

What is an HTML Stripper and How Does it Work?

An html stripper is a utility that removes html tags, html code, and formatting from text. It works by parsing the html content and extracting only the text while discarding all the html tags, attributes, inline styles, and even img src details from image tags. It can also remove unwanted links and images embedded in the html.

The tool handles different markup structures robustly and uses methods such as:

• Parsing html: Utilizing built-in browser DOM methods or specialized libraries to read and traverse the html markup.

• Regular expressions: A quick method to match and remove html tags; however, caution is needed with malformed html.

• JavaScript methods: Leveraging the browser’s innerText or textContent properties to extract text. For instance, if you simply paste the html into the tool, it will automatically convert it.

Below is a simplified workflow diagram of the html stripping process:

And here’s a basic JavaScript example using the DOM:

1// comment: This function strips html and removes unwanted elements.
2function stripHtml(html) {
3  var tempDiv = document.createElement("div");
4  tempDiv.innerHTML = html;
5  return tempDiv.textContent || tempDiv.innerText || "";
6}

​

The Benefits of Removing HTML Tags

Removing html tags can simplify text and make it easier to read and understand. It not only converts html files and messy text into plain text but also ensures that the final output is clean and pretty text. This is especially useful when dealing with messy text packed with extraneous elements, as it can save time during development. The process provides a massive amount of help by delivering clean and pretty text for further processing, whether for publishing on a website or for use by web developers.

How to Choose the Best HTML Stripper

When selecting an html stripper tool, consider the following criteria:

• Robustness: The tool should handle malformed html and unexpected script tags.

• Speed: It should quickly process text and work well for both single and batch conversions.

• Versatility: Look for features that allow you to convert html files to plain text and remove unnecessary html tags.

• Reliability: Avoid relying solely on regular expressions, as they might struggle with different markup in certain cases.

Features to Look for in an HTML Stripper

Below is a table summarizing key features and what to look for:

Feature	Description
Remove HTML Tags & Markup	Extracts plain text by eliminating html tags, attributes, inline styles, and other unnecessary html tags.
Malformed HTML Handling	Robust parsing that can deal with non-standard or broken html structures.
Batch Processing	Ability to process multiple html files or a massive amount of data quickly.
Custom Formatting Support	Options to preserve or convert certain custom formatting while still providing clean and pretty text.
Offline Capability	Works without an active internet connection, ensuring data privacy and control over processing.
Script & Style Tag Handling	Special treatment for script tags and style tags to prevent unwanted text extraction from code blocks.

Common Use Cases for HTML Strippers

HTML strippers are versatile and used in various scenarios:

• Content Publishing: Clean up user input from a web page before publishing to maintain a consistent layout.

• Data Mining & Analysis: Extract plain text from html for further analysis.

• Web Scraping: Remove html tags from scraped content to convert html to plain text.

• Email Processing: Convert html emails into plain text.

• Online Tool Integration: Many wysiwyg editors generate html markup that might require cleaning.

• Different Applications: It is useful across different applications, from web scrapers to content management systems, and can even be integrated into a web application for dynamic content processing.

Tips for Using an HTML Stripper Effectively

To get the best results from your html stripper:

• Verify Content Integrity: Before processing, ensure that the removal of html tags does not eliminate essential context.

• Test with Edge Cases: Validate your tool against documents with malformed html, embedded script tags, or custom formatting.

• Preserve Structure: Ensure the tool preserves line breaks where necessary for readability and maintains the layout.

• Be Cautious When Editing: Avoid edit operations that might remove essential data or context inadvertently.

• Utilize Multiple Methods: Combining DOM-based methods with regular expressions can provide a more thorough cleanup.

• Rid Unwanted Elements: Ultimately, the goal is to rid your text of all unnecessary html tags and achieve clean and pretty text.

Additionally, consider adding a note for users: If you encounter any img or div elements that still persist, check your code to ensure all unwanted attributes and links are being removed properly.

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